Old and Rare Breeds

[gallorojo]

This looks to be a great thread!! Glad it's building up support so quickly!!
At our place, we have Cubalayas, and are trying to learn how to breed them right. I'd like to work with another breed at some point, but, for now, I am neither sure of what that will be, and, I have plenty more yet to learn about about the Cubalayas!!

We are in south central PA .

 

[saladin]

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All of these breeds need help; so ultimately it is going to be up to you. That said, if it were up to me, I'd choose the Java or Sussex, simply because those breeds are both old and rare. The Delaware, a great bird, is rare but not old.

 

[hcammack]

Quote:
Ok since I was so tired I will answer this question in more detail now.

I don't have any Faverolles right now. The major lines are Dick Boulanger, Peter Merlin, and Ron Patterson. They are the major breeders of LF salmons and whites in the country today.

There are many different things that you have to look for in a Faverolles especially in the salmon variety. This makes them a great challenge in the breeding pen. You have to consider beard and muff size and layout (has to be three parts). Toes placement Faverolles have 5 toes and the fifth needs to be upward and straight back. We need to consider the leg feathering as well. We also have to look at the overall Faverolles type which is very unique and hard to describe. Very large birds with deep keels and breasts and strong heads. Basically just strong faverolles type which can take years to see and years to achieve in your flock.

The salmons color is also very complex. Some problems that have been occurring are salmons females with two tone coloring instead of pure brown salmons or pink salmon. Salmon cockerels need to have mahogany in the wingbows and you need hens that are darker then needed to produce the mahogany in the wings. We are working on creating good cockerel lines instead of just good pullet lines.

Faverolles are also in very limited numbers so we are working on improving overall quality as well as increasing the numbers of people who keep Faverolles.

The difficulty of breeding Faverolles for me is outweighed by the extrem beauty and wonderful personality. They are some of the gentlest birds I have ever come across. They require extreme dedication because of the difficulty of breeding them to standard. To breed great Faverolles you need to be a great breeder and know your standard by heart. We need more dedicated Faverolles breeders.

Please visits the Faverolles Fanciers site to read more http://faverollesfanciers.webs.com/index.htm . Also if you would like to look at joining the club I am considering sending out our newsletter for people to read to see if they would like to join.

 

[tinychicky]

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if i can find good quality stock, i may raise and possibly eventually breed freisians, too

 

[Judy]

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None of ours do, compared to western civilization, which is then newer than.... etc. We forget what a new country we are.

Unless one is native american, obviously.

 

[heritagehabitatfarms]

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the only one i have is delawares... but i would highley recomend them... im new to the breed so i cant claim to be a breeder but ill be selling chicks and eggs in the spring..

 

[saladin]

Henry,
So if I understand you correctly, you are saying there are only 3 primary strains of Favs in the US today? Are those 3 lines related?

 

[hcammack]

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No not even three and yes they are all related those are the three main breeders. There is one strain from the initial importations (not sure who) they are all related. Then there was the importation of one or two British birds that provided us with a new influx of blood. Dick, Ron, and Peter have all used the imported British blood so their birds are more "refreshed" then other birds. But yes they are all very closely related! We need new blood in this country or we need to be very very very careful about not inbreeding to much.

Henry

 

[flgardengirl]

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Ok cool I dont remember where I heard/ read that but it might have just come from you lol.

I am a total bookworm and have read some of Hawthorne's books but must of missed House of Seven Gables. I don't know how...gardens, chickens, witchcraft, romance..Err how did I miss this book LOL. I'm gonna have to read it now.

 

[hcammack]

Quote:
No not even three and yes they are all related those are the three main breeders. There is one strain from the initial importations (not sure who) they are all related. Then there was the importation of one or two British birds that provided us with a new influx of blood. Dick, Ron, and Peter have all used the imported British blood so their birds are more "refreshed" then other birds. But yes they are all very closely related! We need new blood in this country or we need to be very very very careful about not inbreeding to much.

Henry

But many of these breeders have been line breeding for a while so if you cross the strains they provide a bit of new blood. I do think line breeding does provide some good things though so its not all bad.

Henry